Can no longer play Tivo files after Windows update

2385 Views 6 Replies 3 Participants Last post by setx70, Aug 13, 2020

setx70

Discussion Starter · Aug 11, 2020

Up until now I've been able to play .Tivo files on my Windows 10 PC using Windows Media Player, but a few days ago Windows installed a new OS update, and now when I try to play the files I get a message saying "The selected file has an extension (.tivo) that is not recognized by Windows Media Player, but the Player may still be able to play it." Then it asks if I want the player to try to play it and I answer Yes. I then get an error message saying "Windows Media Player encountered a problem while playing the file."

I tried uninstalling and reinstalling the MPEG-2 Video Extension and the K-Lite Mega Codec Pack 15.6.5 and still get the same error.

Actually my preferred player to use would be Media Player Classic since I use it for everything else but I've never gotten it to work there. The file will start to open and I can see the correct running time at the bottom and I can scan through it but the screen is gray and I get no audio.

I would really prefer to stick with the native .tivo file format instead of converting them to .mp4 format.

Save

1 - 7 of 7 Posts

ThAbtO

· #2 · Aug 11, 2020

You need to re-install (not uninstall) Tivo Desktop for it to recognize .TiVo files every time you get an update.
Otherwise, you can run TivoDecode (included in KMTTG) on each of those files and you would never need to re-install every time.

Save

setx70

Discussion Starter · #3 · Aug 11, 2020

ThAbtO said:
You need to re-install (not uninstall) Tivo Desktop for it to recognize .TiVo files every time you get an update.
Otherwise, you can run TivoDecode (included in KMTTG) on each of those files and you would never need to re-install every time.

Thank you for responding. I had first installed Tivo Desktop about two years ago and had never had to do a reinstall before after any other Windows Update, so this must have been quite some update. I wasn't even sure if Tivo Desktop was still around and available to install. I was using it for the longest time to download shows to my computer but it quit working after one of the Tivo updates last year. That's when I installed pyTivo and have been using it ever since.

I did find the Tivo Desktop installation on the Internet and ran it, and there was a "Repair" option (no reinstall). I tried doing the repair but the same behavior is happening when I try to open the files in Windows Media Player or Media Player Classic.

Save

ThAbtO

· #4 · Aug 11, 2020

Tivo no longer supports Tivo Desktop, but it is still around.

Save

setx70

Discussion Starter · #5 · Aug 12, 2020

Well I guess I'm screwed then, I have no idea how to get these files to play now without maybe trying to reinstall the entire OS which I really don't want to do.

Save

worachj

· #6 · Aug 12, 2020

Sounds like maybe you downloaded the patch and not the full installation version. Try downloading from this link and right click on it and "Run as administrator".

Tivo Desktop Plus download and updates?

Save

setx70

Discussion Starter · #7 · Aug 13, 2020

worachj said:
Sounds like maybe you downloaded the patch and not the full installation version. Try downloading from this link and right click on it and "Run as administrator".

Tivo Desktop Plus download and updates?

Thank you, I was able to get it working tonight! My problem maybe was because the first time I did the repair I didn't open Tivo Desktop afterward, I just tried opening the Tivo file straight into Windows Media Player. This time after repairing I loaded up Tivo Desktop, connected to my Tivo and then tried opening the show from within there and it loaded up Windows Media Player and played the show correctly.

Would now just be nice if I could get it to play correctly in Windows Media Classic, my favorite and easiest player to use.

Save

1 - 7 of 7 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.

Top Contributors this Month